When considering the purchase of a product or service, many often turn to family, friends, and co-workers for recommendations. For example, we may seek a restaurant recommendation or advice about a reliable but affordable brand of refrigerator. We turn to the people closest to us for recommendations and advice because they are familiar with us and thus will offer recommendations and advice that are likely to be consistent with our own personal tastes, preferences, and lifestyles. However, while their recommendations may be helpful, such advice is not always timely. When shopping at a local appliance store for a refrigerator or looking for a restaurant in which to enjoy a spontaneous dinner out, we need a recommendation on the spot and do not necessarily have time to call family and friends for one.
The Internet offers an alternative, near instantaneous source of information. Using a cellular telephone with Internet service or a laptop computer with wireless Internet connectivity, we may search for and obtain information about reliable but affordable refrigerators or recommendations of restaurants located in our general vicinity. A drawback to recommendations and advice obtained in this manner is that with rare exception, those recommendations and advice are provided by individuals who do not know us, do not know our personal tastes and preferences, and are not familiar with our lifestyles.